


to clutch tightly

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Force Choking, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Possessive Kylo Ren, Pre-Slash, Spooning, non-canon language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-08-07 12:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7714840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>General Hux decides he doesn't want to face Snoke's punishment, Kylo Ren is possessive of things he deems /his/.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. you don't yet know that you've only saved the worst parts of me

**Author's Note:**

> this has been minorly edited to fix tense issues and some sentences that didn't make any sense.

  
Hux is  _almost_ too prideful to run to the hangar, even with the planet shuddering beneath his shiny boots. But then the crawling fear looms like a presence at his back and he _has to_. He doesn't pass a single person on his way to the hangar which either means everyone has escaped the crumbling failure (the planet, not the person.) or everyone has resigned themselves to die and are quietly regretting their life choices and cursing him in private.

He already contacted the command center, telling all remaining at their posts to evacuate, even if that means filling a vessel over capacity- and he had paused at the end of his instructions, considering telling them it has been a pleasure working with them,or good luck or thanks or something to that effect. Something grateful and positive. After a long static filled couple seconds he ended the comm on nothing, no point making them more scared.

Ren's Upsilon is waiting when he (somehow) gracefully runs across the cracking hangar bay floor and up into the craft- already full with a cluster of semi-composed officers who, having followed his instruction, are strapped in ready to go.  
"Take off immediately and track Lord Ren's current location, we are to retrieve him." he marvels at how his voice doesn't waver even though he feels like the ability to take a fulfilling breath has left him. And they take off- Not wasting any time heading towards the source of the destruction of Starkiller.

\--

The pilots lower them down by a black smudge in the snow allowing Hux to go out, pointedly ignoring the crying coming from officers in the back lest he become emotionally compromised. Ren's not as heavy as he expected but still too heavy to carry in his arms so he resorts to dragging the sorry lump, leaving a red trail in his wake as if he is the god of the snowy planet and it dies with him- _Kylo the frosty superweapon_ , _a small scale Starkiller.-_

Though breathing, the unmasked smudge doesn't show any signs of consciousness as Hux settles him on the ground in the back of the Upsilon. They're in view of the officers, strapped in looking like weapons in a locker in their uniformity, and Hux trusts at least one of them has an idea of how to put on bacta patches, he half-heartedly salutes them and calls out to the pilots to take off as the ground has them swaying and jittering. _They all look like they might die of fright even if they do escape_ , he thinks turning from them for the last time and sauntering lightly down the ramp before it can rise too far- landing heavily back in the snow.

Hux is resolved to not watch the shuttle leave lest he be tempted to cry out or something equally shameful, so instead he walks slowly away before stopping to try and light a cig, quite a challenge when the cracking and jerking planet keeps making his hands wobble all over the place on top of the trembling they've taken to. Successful, he shakes out the flame on his lighter even though he doesn't need to, because habits are weird, and feels the horrible rush of realisation and adrenaline strike up his throat, frayed senses alerting him that the upsilon still hadn't moved and he can still sort of hear an officer crying out. He doesn't get a chance to decide on an action as the sound of groaning metal invades his ears and has him looking slowly over his shoulder, pulse rising to slam in his head.  _Perhaps I will die of fright too_. And to his horror, that infuriating bastard, Kylo _Fucking_ Ren, has rolled over onto his belly and is force-ing the upsilon to stay open.

"Go to Snoke, Ren!" he half turns having to yell over the sound of both the planet trying to eat itself and the command shuttle trying to burn itself out, so when Kylo yells back he doesn't hear him anyway. Ren is red faced and sweating, clearly in pain from overexerting himself but _WHY?_  The (former) General couldn't figure it. _He must think I'm stealing the pleasure of rending my head from my shoulders from him, the entitled brat._ He shows he's made his decision by staying where he is and taking a short anxious puff on his smoke, having trouble breathing deep enough to enjoy it. A quick mental check of himself shows he has an appropriately nonplussed look on his face and yet, there Ren goes, still making frantic eye contact with him and _crying_. Not just releasing a couple of tears after drinking too much in the officers' lounge but full-on messy crying. _Odd._  

A sudden (additional, external) tightness in his throat makes Hux choke and drop his cig, but on bending down to retrieve it he is twisted and pulled, body convulsing- straightening up for fear of smashing his face into the rocky ground as his legs scramble but aren't allowed to take his weight. He grabs at his neck but there's nothing there besides his collar as he is fully extended, toes leaving two gashes in the snow- the edges of his vision starting to flicker like static and glowing bugs. His lungs are burning even with the lack of the cig, and his heart pounds everywhere- his head, neck, chest- between his grasping fingers, in the backs of his locked knees, even in his eyeballs.

Within a state of panic he considers dying of fright, just to spite Ren.

It's as if he had been walking and merely tripped when his toes reach the ramp and he's sent sprawling onto it and dragged- into the ship as it's finally allowed to close. His mind is offline, ears whistling in a slightly higher frequency to the already loud Upsilon. The want to regain composure is strong but ultimately overridden by his body's strain and he has to continue coughing and holding his throat laying on his side like dumped luggage, simultaneously trying to get enough air and not puke.

It had been the longest few seconds of his life; Kylo, injured and thinking he knew better, had flung out his other hand- And with one holding the ship's door open, the other grabbing him- had pulled the only way he could in that moment; a force choke.

\--

Hux tenses as another tightness at his neck appears, gasping still but beginning to calm, this time though the source is a clothed arm being wrapped around him from behind. The strange head-lock embrace is unsettling, trapping him within the thoughts of his universe imploding with the planet. He tries to remain strong and focus on planning his next steps but he's tired, it's too much, and the sense of failure rises up hot and leaks from his eyes to streak down his pallid face as Ren just, holds him, not hard but the gesture was clear enough. _Ren wasn't going to let him to get off that easy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hux is a fuxking idiot, Kylo loves him and would be upset if he died.
> 
> officers would probably be more composed but I didn't want to change it, I also don't know shit about Command Shuttles. honestly we both know you don't care.


	2. death before dishonour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> same as before but then not, only about 530 words long-

Kylo looks pitiful-- pitiable-- a dark lump in the snow that's gradually getting covered by the white still falling around them. The ground violently lists to the side and Hux finds his hand shooting up to keep his hat on, an explosion-born habit that makes him look foolish now as he approaches his motionless co-commander. Kylo- isn't dead, or at least it's unusual to die and have your face still look like you're fighting an internal battle, there's a short drag mark in the powder like he tried to crawl then flopped onto his back, called it a day. The icy rock is somehow colder than Hux expected when he kneels, sending a shiver through him when he lowers himself fully, onto his side next to Ren- their feet are sloping downwards now and eventually the planet may swallow them, but Hux's heart died already, so his body doesn't matter.

"Ren. I know you're not dead, so don't ignore me." Even yelling might not get over the sound of the planet's distressed churning but he's next to Kylo's ear so- "You fucked us. Me, you, the Order most importantly. It can bounce back, I'm not foolish enough to think I'm irreplaceable, but you were supposed to be the one stopping the Force-" He pauses to watch Ren's eyes flicker, perhaps hoping to die faster and not listen to Hux's last words. "You were supposed to be stopping the Force from shoving it's grubby little fingers into the mechanisms of our Order. That light! That "light side"! Well, Ren, I hope it has illuminated things for you- Really, truly, shown you the truth of the galaxy." A tear crosses the bridge of his nose to run into his other eye. "Because it sees you just as clearly, and it wants you dead." A little anticlimactic but he's made his piece, choosing to roll over- making a pair of dark lumps in the snow.

Shudders run through the ground constantly and with his back pressed to the crust it feels like being wired up to it, a new prosthetic that's malfunctioning, the limb having needed more of the septic flesh removed before connection. Every distant blast and the roaring of the planet in it's death throes should be making him scared but it's not working, those nerves have ceased function, his fever-dream of galactic order under his rule is almost at it's peaceful end.

They'll count who makes it to the Finalizer and report that the commanders didn't make it off the planet. No one will be able to call Hux a coward, though the fall of the base may be blamed on him he did what he could, destroyed 5 densely populated planets. Karma hasn't even waited for the dust to settle. Maybe it's the Force, he thinks, truly- not just for the sake of tormenting a near-dead knight. He contemplates this with a smirk, one he would wear if he ever had to face Republic Justice for his actions.

Thank you Supreme Leader, it's been an honour- and you're fucking welcome.

A shuffle beside him catches his attention, he looks to see Ren staring at him, eyes half-lidded and lips blue, not that Hux's sky-burnt retinas allow him to see that much detail. Poor dumb bastard. Hux takes pity and shuffles his hand over, worms his fingers into Kylo's loose fist and holds it. Solidarity, you oaf. The oaf mumbles something, only a squeak coming out, coughs, tries again with red teeth. "You too."

Hux huffs and looks back to the sky, waits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost made kylo say "I know" but you too is more ominous
> 
> and then they burn alive :)
> 
> implications that I may not have been able to make clear: Hux believes The Supreme Leader knew that this would happen and is choosing to fuck with him by dying with Ren on his planet.


End file.
